PRESS RELEASE
Wellington Zapatista Solidarity Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 29 April 2011


Demand for the Release of the Five Ejidatorios of San Sebastián Bachajón, Chiapas, México

The Wellington Zapatista Solidarity Group this week delivered a letter to the Mexican Embassy in Wellington demanding the release of five political prisoners, detained on 2 February 2011 in San Sebastián Bachajón - Jerónimo Guzmán Méndez, Domingo Pérez Álvaro, Juan Aguilar Guzmán, Domingo García Gómez, and Mariano Demeza Silvano.

At 6:30 a.m. on 2 February a group of approximately 60 individuals unexpectedly entered the Agua Azul toll booth, in which the ejidatarios oversaw entry to the waterfalls of Agua Azul, and beat and evicted adherents to The Other Campaign.

Although the ejidatorios regained control of the toll booth later that afternoon, police arrived and ordered them to leave. The next day, while the ejidatorios were holding a meeting to discuss an offer of negotiation by the Chiapas government, some 300 State police arrived and violently detained 117 of them.

On 5 February, 107 were released, while 10, including a minor, were transferred to the State Center for the Social Reinsertion of Convicts Number 17 (CERSS, in Spanish) in the municipality of Playas de Catazajá, Chiapas, accused of first-degree murder, attempted murder, attacks against the peace and physical integrity of the patrimony of the State and damages. A few days later, five of them were released, but the other five, including the minor, remain imprisoned.

Human Rights organisation Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (FrayBa) reported that during the judicial investigation the defendants were at no point assisted by a defense attorney nor by qualified interpreters in accordance with their language and culture. (1)

On the morning of 8 April 2011 the ejidatorios from San Sebastian Bachajón regained control of the tollbooth. The following day, 9th April, over 800 state and federal police and troops violently evicted them. Following this act of repression, three supporters of The Other Campaign disappeared.

FrayBa has described the current crisis in the San Sebastián Bachajón ejido as such:
“What is at stake in this conflict is not control of a tollbooth at the entry of the Agua Azul Waterfalls, but rather how to avoid the empowerment of the region's indigenous communities in exercising their rights to decide what they need as communities and how they can take care of, protect, and defend their territories.” (1)

The Wellington Zapatista Solidarity Group deplores the numerous violations of the rights of the ejidatorios of San Sebastián Bachajón, through state and private attempts to plunder the natural resources of Agua Azul, a common patrimony cared for and protected for centuries by the indigenous peoples of this ejido.for the enjoyment by all – not for the exploitation by a few.

We equally deplore the use of federal, state and municipal forces to turn the Agua Azul region into a three-top circus for tourists, whereby the indigenous peoples will become little more than side-shows under military command, stripped of their dignity, freedom, and way of life.

We therefore demand that the Mexican Federal, State and Municipal Governments:

1. Immediately release Jerónimo Guzmán Méndez, ejidatario of The Other Campaign; Domingo Pérez Álvaro, member of the Commission to Promote The Other Campaign; Juan Aguilar Guzmán, head cashier of The Other Campaign; Domingo García Gómez, member of the Human Rights Defense Committee; and Mariano Demeza Silvano, adolescent member of The Other Campaign.

2. Respect the right of the Tseltal people of San Sebastián Bachajón to free determination and to exercise their autonomy as stipulated in Agreement No. 169 regarding indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the San Andrés Accords, Document 1, 3. 1. Document 2, II, IV (2. 3.); Document 3.1 (c, d); Document 1, Principle of the New Relationship 5.

3. Respect their right to use and enjoy their natural resources, which as indigenous peoples they have protected for centuries, as referenced in Agreement No. 169 regarding indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries, pursuant to article 13.2 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and San Andrés Accords 1.4 B. 2.; Document 1, Principle of the New Relationship 2.

4. Immediately withdraw all military, paramilitary, and police forces from the entire region, such that the natural treasure of Agua Azul is returned to the common ownership from which it has been wrested, and the rights of the ejidatorios of San Sebastián Bachajón. are upheld.

Wellington Zapatista Solidarity Group
http://floweroftheword.wordpress.com/

(1) http://www.frayba.org.mx/archivo/informes/informe_bachajon_ingles.pdf

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